Dispensing pump



June 4, 1940. R 2,203,242

DISPENSING PUMP Filed Jan. 24, 1959 G Norm 14 i at ented June 4, 1946UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DISPENSING PUMP Karl Weber, Los Angeles,Calif.

Application January 24, 1939, Serial No. 252,587

3 Claims.

a spout by suddenly forcing the plunger down wardly. The plunger orpiston rod, carries a piston at its lower end, working in a barrel inwhich pressure is exerted upon the syrup to force it up the uptake tubeand through the spout. In the common construction of pumps of this kind,the pump barrel is formed as an assembly with the plunger anduptake'tube, and these parts are carried by the cover. The cover isseated on the upper edge of the jar, and supports the pump assembly. Thesyrup pumps in common use are usually constructed with a removable plateat the bottom, made of block tin, and in cleaning such a pump it isnecessary to unscrew this plate. The thread at the edge of this plateafter considerable use, becomes worn so that it will not hold this platein place. In old fountains sometimes this plate is repaired bypermanently securing it in place by means other than its own thread,after which the interior of the pump is inaccessible for cleaning. This,of course, is very unsanitary. One of the objects of my, invention is tosimplify the construction of pumps of thistype, and to obviate thenecessity for providing a separate pump barrel and the removable bottomplate referred to above.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a pump of this type,which is so constructed that the barrel will refill in a relativelyshort the jar, and enables all the moving parts of the pump to bereadily removed for cleaning them and the jar.

A further object of the invention is to construct the valve means insuch a way that it will be quick closing; also to provide meanscoopcrating with the valve means, tending to enhance this quick closingaction.

Further objects of the invention will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists in the novel parts and combination of parts to bedescribed hereinafter, all of which contribute to produce an efficientdispensing pump.

described in the following specification, while the broad scope of theinvention is pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. l is a vertical section through a syrup pump embodying myinvention, some parts being broken away and shown partially in section.

=lg. 2 is a horizontal section taken on the line 2-4 of Figure 1, butupon a larger scale. This view particularly illustrates the arrange-=ment of the uptake tube and valves with relation to the piston rod.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken about on the line 33 of Figure 2, andfurther illustrating details of the valve construction.

In practicing the invention, I provide a jar l of shell-form, which ispreferably formed of stainless steel, said jar having a bottom 2 ofsubstantially conical form, the middle portion of which is drawndownwardly to form a barrel 3 integral with the bottom. The upper end ofthe jar is closed by a removable cover 4 that may have a marginal flange5 seating over the crimped edge 6 on the upper end of the jar. Thiscover is preferably also formed of stainless steel, and carries a metalfitting l, a portion of which forms a spout 8, and the inner end ofwhich is formed into a boss or hub 9 to operate as a guide for theactuating plunger ID of the pump. The spout 8 preferably extends in adirection inclined to the axis of the jar I, so that when the jar ismounted in the usual inclined position, the spout 8 will besubstantially horizontal.

The duct through the spout, communicates with an uptake tube H, theupper end of which is pressed or otherwise secured in the socket l2 inthe fitting. The under side of the fitting may be provided with a bossI3 that seats in a central opening M in the middle of the cover 4.

The fitting I may be secured to the cover in any desired manner, and inthe present instance, as illustrated, issecured by means of two screwsl5. The plunger l0 includes a driving head it, which can be struck orpushed inwardly with ones hand. This head it has, a threaded socketreceived on the threadedupper end I! of a piston rod l8. The hub or body9 of the fitting 1, may be provided with a bushing sleeve l9 that Apreferred embodiment of the invention is t forms a guide for a sleeve2!! carried by the knob or head It. The bushing l9 and the sleeveoperate as a housing for a coil spring 21 or other means, for returningthe plunger after it has been depressed. The lower end of this springseats around an integral neck 22 at the lower end of the bushing. Thepiston rod l8 is provided with a stop collar 22 that seats against thelower end of the bushing 19 to limit the upward movement of the pistonrod.

The lower end of the piston rod l8 carries a piston 23 that ispreferably composed of sheet metal, and consists of a disc body with adownwardly turned flange 2 that fits neatly into the bore of the barrel3. The piston 23 has a flanged guide opening 25, which receives thelower end of the uptake tube il so that as the piston slides up or down,it will be guided on the uptake tube.

The piston 23 is provided with valve means of considerable area, so asto insure that on the return stroke of the piston the barrel 3 willsubstantially fill with the syrup. In this connection it should berealized that these syrups have considerable viscosity, and hence theydo not flow quickly through valve openings. For this reason I prefer toconstruct the valve means so that it presents a plurality of relativelylarge valve ports or openings 26 (see Fig. 2) and in the presentinstance, I have illustrated four of these valve ports 26 arranged inpairs, each pair of ports having its own valve closure 27 common to thetwo ports of the pair. Each valve closure preferably consists of anelongated metal plate, which is also preferably of stainless steel, andwhich will not be attacked by any acids in the syrup, or juices that arehandled by the pump. This valve means that I employ, is preferablygravity opening that is to say, the effect of gravity acting on thevalve closures, will hold them open in the position of rest of thepiston. In the present instance, eachvalv-e plate is suspended on theunder side of the piston by two pins 28 having heads 29 at their lowerends, and passing through openings 30 in the valve plates, that giveconsiderable clearance. When the piston rod is is suddenly thrustdownwardly, the pressure in the chamber of the barrel 3 suddenly rises,and this pressure exerted on the under sides of the valve plates,immediately seats them against the under side of the piston. From thispoint on, the syrup will be rapidly discharged up the tube H and throughthe spout 8.

In order to keep the tube ll of the spout 8 full of syrup at all times,and also so as to afford an immediate resistance and give quick actionto the valve plates in closing, I prefer to provide a check valve 3!connected into the uptake tube II. This valve may be of any desiredtype, but in the present instance it includes a ball check 32. This ballcheck 32 is also preferably of stainless steel, as is also the uptaketube II and the other parts within the jar.

In the preferred construction, the tube II is suspended from the cover,and in order to maintain its alignment and at the same time to providefor guiding the piston rod, I provide a guide bracket 33 that ispreferably rigidly attached to the uptake tube H, as by welding, andformed with a guide sleeve 34 that slides loosely on the rod Hi. In thisway the opening 25 maintains the tube II in its proper alignment,although its lower end is not held fixed by any means below the piston;and this enables the tube H to operate as though it were actually afixed support for the guide bracket 33 in guiding the piston rod. At thesame time this assembly has considerable flexibility below, enabling thepiston 23 to be centered by the wall of the barrel.

In the operation of the pump, it will be evident that as soon as theattendant releases the knob lii, the spring 2! will return the piston 23to its elevated position. This spring 2| should be of considerable forceso as to effect a quick return of the piston. As the piston starts up,the valve plates 2l, of course, open immediately so as to permit thesyrup to flow through the valve ports and fill the barrel 3 withoutundue delay.

The bottom of the barrel 3 may be provided with an upset boss 35 lyingin the path of the rivuptake tube supported solely on the cover,communicating at its upper end with the spout, and with its lower endextending into the barrel, and hanging freely within the same, a pistonrod extending down through the cover, a rigid piston carried thereby,sliding in the barrel and fitting :1,

its bore, said piston having a guide opening enabling the piston to beguided on the tube, valve means on the piston resting in an openposition when the piston is at rest, and operating to close suddenlywhen the piston is forced down, means for guiding and bracing the pistonrod on the tube, and means for returning the piston after the same hasbeen depressed.

In a dispensing pump, the combination of a jar having a pump barrel atits bottom, a cover for the jar having a delivery spout, an uptake tubesupported solely on the cover, communicating at its upper end with thespout, and with its lower end extending into the barrel, a piston rodextendingdown through the cover, a piston carried thereby, sliding inthe barrel, having a guide opening enabling the tube to be held inalignment by the piston, and a guide connecting the tube and piston rodenabling the piston to be guided through the agency'of the tube, saidpiston comprising a disc having a valve opening therethrough, and valvemeans carried on the under side of the piston, operating to maintainitself by gravity in an open position when the piston is at rest, andmeans for returning the piston after the same has been depressed.

3. In a dispensing pump, the combination of a jar having a bottom withan integral pump barrel, a cover for the jar, an uptake tube carried bythe cover extending down into the barrel and having a delivery spoutabove, a bracket securely fastened to the uptake tube, said bracketmaintaining the piston rod in approximate alignment, a pump plungerhaving a piston rod guided to slide through the cover, and a valvedpiston carried by the piston rod to reciprocate in the pump barrel.

KARL WEBER.

